Guacamole

Guacamole is awesome especially homemade. Lately avocados have been on sale at Price Chopper, and I've been on a Mexican kick with the nice weather, so I've had plenty of excuses to make this delicious dip. It's pretty easy as long as you pick up all the ingredients before. I've found a potato masher comes in handy for the avocados, and that tasting after adding each ingredient is the best and most delicious way to test it!

Guacamole
3 ripe avocados
1/2 medium tomato, seeded and diced
1/2 medium red or white onion, diced
1jalapeño or serrano pepper, seeded and minced (optional.. but it's awesome)
2 Tbsp cilantro
juice from 1 small lime
juice from half an orange
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste.

Peel and pit the avocados. Mash to desired coarseness with potato masher or fork. Add ingredients one at a time, tasting!! Cover tightly with plastic wrap until ready to enjoy, which should be sooner than later or it will start to brown.

While I'm on the subject, I'm in love with my avocado knife that's shaped like an avocado! It makes pitting and peeling so much easier, especially since I eat avocados pretty much every day.

EDIT: I've added the juice from half an orange to the ingredients list. This seriously gives the guacamole an extra freshness and specialness that is sure to impress your guests.

Connor's Underwater Cupcakes

My roommate Connor turned 22. A slightly uneventful age. He also likes the ocean, even though he's from Jersey shore.... anyway I thought I'd make these ocean themed cupcakes using my favorite vanilla cupcake recipe courtesy of Amy Sedaris, topped with a class vanilla butter cream frosting with cyan food coloring.

Amy Sedaris' Cupcakes

Makes 24 cupcakes

1 ½ sticks of unsalted butter
1 ¾ cups of sugar
2 large eggs
2 Teaspoons of pure vanilla
½ teaspoon of salt
2 ½ teaspoons of baking powder
2 ½ cups of flour
1 ¼ cups of milk

 
Preheat over to 350 degrees. Adjust oven rack to middle position. Line cupcake pan with with cute paper liners.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Beat in eggs, vanilla, salt and baking powder. Add flour in 3 batches, alternating with milk. Beat at low speed for 30 seconds.

Divide batter evenly among cups. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until toothpick  inserted into center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack before frosting.

Vanilla Butter Cream Frosting
1 cup butter (2 stickers or 1/2 pound), softened
3-4 cups confectioners (powdered) sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
up to 4 tablespoons milk

Beat butter for a few minutes with a mixer on medium speed.  Add powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, until smooth incorporated. Mix in vanilla. If the frosting is too stiff, add a bit of milk until desired consistency. A taste test should do just fine here.

The secret to the swirl is I beat in some color to make it light turquoise, then I set aside some of the blue frosting and added more food coloring. I spread the darker frosting along one side of the piping bag, then filled it with the rest of the frosting. This made the neat swirl effect that I especially love doing with a chocolate ganache like I did with the Car Bomb Cupcakes!

Pad Thai

I fell in love with Thai food in high school, and was spoiled by the abundance of wonderful Thai restaurants in the greater Boston area including three within 5 miles from my parents' house. In high school I also had a lot of disposable income, so going out for Thai food was just something we did... all the time. Unfortunately now I'm a broke college student and I don't know of many good Thai places in the Capital region nor can I afford it. As I was leaving for college, I decided to take on the challenge of making Pad Thai from scratch. I had hardly cooked before this attempt, and I was weirded out by the  ingredients, like Tamarind, fish sauce, and flat rice noodles. I tried a few recipes before I came across the best one ever, that is,  Chez Pim's recipe. It is totally fool proof, merely requiring the three main sauce ingredients in equal parts--fish sauce, tamarind juice, and sugar. Then a ton of chili sauce. And cilantro. And yeahh.

You're probably wondering where on earth one would get fish sauce, tamarind and rice noodles. Well even though Albany doesn't boast many Thai restaurants, it does have plenty of Asian markets, such as Lee's on Central. You can get all the ingredients there. Or even at Price Chopper probably (minus the Tamarind.. but I've used lime juice instead in a pinch). So long as you've got a salty (fish sauce), sour (tamarind), sweet (sugar) and spice (optional, but Sriracha works wonderfully), you've got a tasty Thai influenced meal.

Pad Thai
Serves 4

1/2 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined (or chicken or whatever you got)
12 oz dried rice noodles
1/3 cup fish sauce (if this really weirds you out, soy sauce is ok, but not quite the same)
1/3 cup tamarind (or lime juice, but again, it'll be different)
1/3 cup sugar (I like to add a little less, 1/4 cup)
Sriracha or other chili sauce or paprika
lime juice/slices
large handful of bean sprouts
2 eggs
2 Tbsp chopped cilantro
2 Tbsp oil
crushed peanuts

I like to make the sauce ahead so that it's easy to mix it in with everything. With this recipe, timing is key, otherwise the noodles get mushy. Cook the noodles first, until they are almost done, but still have a bite to them. Rinse with cold water, drain, and set aside. Heat vegetable oil in a wok, then add shrimp or whatever your protein is. Add some of the sauce and stir around, set the shrimp aside as to not overcook them (if it's chicken etc just leave it). Add the noodles to the wok making sure to separate them, then a bunch more of the sauce (to your desired consistency). Stir again for 2 minutes. Then divide the noodles so you have some empty pan space and crack your eggs. Let them cook up a little and then mix into the noodles. Return the shrimpies to the pan. Add the beansprouts and peanuts. Add Sriracha to your taste (lots of it hopefully) and more sauce if you think it needs it. Serve and garnish with cilantro and extra crushed peanuts.

Stirfried Korma Vegetables

I like vegetables so long as they have a ton of flavor, and I also love Indian food almost more than anything. Making a batch of Korma vegetables to last the week is probably my favorite way to eat relatively healthily and ease my persistent cravings for Indian. I went with cauliflower, mushrooms, onions, and spinach, but you could throw in whatever you want. Korma sauce is a milder creamy sauce characterized by a slight nutty taste, such as with cashews or almonds. I buy it jarred from Trader Joe's, but you can probably find a variation at Price Chopper, Hannaford, or Uncle Sam's downtown. You can also make the sauce from scratch if you're feeling ambitious.

Stirfried Korma Vegetables
Serves 6-8 side portions
1 head cauliflower, cut up
1 onion, diced
4 oz fresh white button mushrooms
8 oz spinach, fresh or frozen (defrosted and water squeezed)
12 oz jar Korma Simmer sauce
2 tsp Garam Masala (optional, I think it gives more depth of flavor)
2 Tbsp butter (or Ghee)

Melt butter or ghee in a medium sized skillet or wok. Add onions and stir for 2 minutes. Add cauliflower, mushrooms, and spinach and saute for 5 minutes. Stir in Garam Masala, then empty contents of jar into the pan along with a cup of water (depending on instructions from the jar). Let reduce to desired consistency. Serve over Basmati rice, or as a side dish to anything.

Ham, Apple & Brie Panini

My panini press is probably my most valued cooking related expense. I make a panini or quesadilla just about every day for lunch. Something about putting those crusty grill marks on a sandwich just makes it about a million times more delicious. Apple seems like an unusual thing to put in a savory meal, but I tried it on a visit to NYC (a chicken apple brie crepe), and it was divine. So was this sandwich. So try it out, won't you?

Ham, Apple & Brie Panini
2 slices of good bread (I love Trader Joe's Tuscan Pane forever and ever)
3 slices of ham
4 apple slices (something tart, I used Golden Delicious)
sliced brie cheese
spinach
Miracle Whip or mayonnaise

Preheat your panini grill. If you don't have one, a George Foreman or a griddle pan or even a skillet will work just fine. Spray with a little bit of olive oil/cooking spray. Spread mayonnaise on a slice and compile sandwich, first the ham, then apple slices, brie, spinach, and top with the other slice. Grill for 5 minutes, or if using a skillet/griddle press down with a heavy plate, flip over and repeat. I like to eat this with a salad topped with the leftover apples. Yess.

Simple Salsa

I love salsa. I used to live off the jarred kind, extra chunky and medium of course. Then came the day I really wanted salsa with my quesadillas and I didn't have any! But I did have a can of diced tomatoes and a can of green chiles that had been sitting in my pantry forever. I always have fresh onion, and I just happened to have fresh cilantro... so I threw everything in a bowl, smashed it up a bit, and I had a delicious and very fresh homemade salsa!! You can also throw in other random pantry stuff (random for me, anyway) such as canned corn, roasted red pepper, or black beans. It's cheap to make, not to mention it's extremely healthy, unlike the massive amount of sour cream and cheddar cheese likely to accompany a Mexican or Tex Mex meal. I'll never go back to jarred.

Shela's Simple Salsa
1 can diced tomatoes
1 4 oz can green chiles, diced (or diced fresh jalapeno)
1 small red onion, diced
a handful of chopped cilantro
A squeeze of lime

Combine all ingredients. Use the back of a spoon or mortar and pestle to crush up some of the mixture (if you're using fresh jalapeno, mash it up before mixing!) until desired consistency. Refrigerate for a few hours or overnight and enjoy on anything. You might be so inclined to eat it right away, but letting it sit overnight makes the flavors infuse into each other deliciously. It's worth the wait. Or do what I do and make a big batch that lasts a week, so you can eat it now and later. :)

Zucchini, Kale, and Egg Scramble

I like to cook with as many different people as possible because it challenges me with new ingredients and ideas. My friend Nita is vegetarian and I'd like to be more creative with vegetable dishes, and this hash was definitely an adventure. I feel like you could put pretty much any vegetable in this dish and it would be good. It's really fresh and would make a good brunch or side dinner dish. The original idea was to poach the eggs, with the yolk mixing into the hash, but we tried to steam it on top of the hash in the pan and it just didn't really cook, so we scrambled it in. It was still good.

Zucchini, Kale, and Egg Scramble
Makes 2 modest servings

1 egg
1 zucchini
1/2 bunch kale
1/2 small onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, chopped
1 small red potato, sliced
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp butter
fresh parsley
2 Tbsp of fresh herbs- sage, rosemary, thyme, oregano, basil (whatever you have)
red pepper flakes
grated Parmesan cheese

Grate zucchini. Saute onions in olive oil and butter until soft, add garlic. Add potatoes and stir until softened. Cook a few minutes and add in zucchini and kale. After kale has wilted, add the egg and stir. After the egg is scrambled, stir in herbs and remove from pan, arrange on a plate. Sprinkle with cheese and hot pepper flakes.

Car Bomb Cupcakes

In the spirit of St. Patrick's day, I made a sugar-laden baked version of the delicious Irish beer cocktail. It was a little extra work than typical cupcakes, but the creamy Bailey's ganache oozing out from the first chocolaty bite makes it completely worth it.

Car Bomb Cupcakes
Makes approximately 24 cupcakes

Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes
1 cup Guinness (or any stout)
1 cup (2 sticks) butter

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups all purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

2/3 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon chocolate flavoring/extract

Make the cupcakes:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 24 cupcake cups with liners.

Bring 1 cup stout and 1 cup butter to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.

Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt in large bowl to blend. Beat eggs, flavoring and sour cream in another large bowl to blend. Add stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat just to combine. Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined.

Divide batter among cupcake liners, filling them 2/3 to 3/4 of the way. Bake cake about 17 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. Cool cupcakes on a rack.

Ganache Filling
1 cup of semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
2/3 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons butter, room temperature

1 to 2 teaspoons whiskey (or 1 to 2 tablespoons Bailey's Irish Cream)

Make the filling:
Put the chocolate chips in heatproof bowl. Heat the cream until simmering and pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for one minute and then stir until smooth. Add the butter and whiskey/Baileys and stir until combined.

Fill the cupcakes:
Let the ganache cool until thick but still soft enough to be spooned into the cupcakes. Meanwhile, take a little scoop out of the center of the cupcakes, about 2/3 of the way. Spoon ganache into the holes filling to the top.

Baileys Frosting
3 to 4 cups confections sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

4-8 tablespoons Baileys

Make the frosting:
Whip the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, for several minutes. You want to get it very light and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar and Baileys and whip it until combined. Put in a piping bag with your favorite frosting tip and pipe away! For the swirl effect I used some leftover ganache and lined the sides of the piping bag before putting in the rest of the frosting. It's so pretty!

Parmesan Pork Cutlets with Pasta

George Foreman grills come in pretty handy in a college student household. I've found that pork is almost always on sale at Price Chopper, buy one get one assorted chops. I had a package of thin sliced pork cutlets in the freezer, thawed them out, and threw them on the grill. You can also cook them in a pan with some olive oil. A simple and quick weeknight dinner, but different enough to impress guests.

Parmesan Pork Cutlets with Pasta
Serves 2

2 pork cutlets
4 oz pasta of your choice
garlic powder
lemon pepper
basil
salt
1 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup grated Parmesan or Asiago cheese

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Start cooking pasta. Meanwhile, preheat the George Foreman (or grill or griddle etc). Sprinkle spices on the pork cutlets. Grill cutlets for 7-10 minutes or until cooked through. Toss pasta with butter until melted. Serve with cutlet and top with basil and Parmesan cheese.

Turkey Marsala Meatballs with Mozzerella

Meatballs are the ultimate comfort food for me, especially made from scratch. I like to make a big batch on the weekend and store them in the fridge or freezer to use for the week, on a sub roll or with pasta. For this recipe I used ground turkey instead of beef to make it healthier, but you can easily sub in ground beef, veal, or chicken depending on what you have. I also stuck little cubes of mozzarella inside the meatballs... it makes it soo good and an interesting twist on traditional meatballs. The Marsala wine is totally optional--I just added it in for extra flavor and it was delicious.

Turkey Marsala Meatballs with Mozzarella
Serves 6 (roughly 18 meatballs)

1/2 lb ground turkey (or beef, chicken, veal, etc)
1/2 lb pork sausage
1/2 cup grated or finely diced onion
2 cloves of crushed garlic
1 egg
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1 oz of fresh mozzarella, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
salt and fresh cracked pepper
1/4 cup fresh or (2 tsp dry) italian herbs or , parsley, basil, thyme, rosemary, whatever you got.
1/2 cup chopped mushrooms (optional)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp Marsala wine
6 oz pasta of your choice

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine ingredients up to the herbs to make the meatballs. If the mixture is too wet, add more breadcrumbs until it feels malleable, and then form 1.5 inch balls with the mozzarella cheese cubes in the middle. In a large skillet add the olive oil and swirl it around to coat the pan. When hot, drop in the meatballs one at a time, careful not to crowd the pan. When the meatballs are browned on all sides, place them on a baking sheet and bake them for 10 additional minutes, checking to make sure they're not dried out. While the meatballs are baking, saute mushrooms in the same skillet. Deglaze the pan with Marsala wine, scraping the bottom of the pan, and reduce until sauce consistency. Serve meatballs over pasta of your choice, drizzle the wine sauce over, and sprinkle with freshly grated Parmesan and black pepper.

Chicken Tikka Masala

I love Indian food and I have for too long been intimidated by the idea of cooking it myself. I had never heard of so many of the spices, nevermind know where to track them down. Thankfully I've discovered Uncle Sam's Good and Healthy Products, a natural food store downtown where I can buy bulk spices for soo cheap. Chicken Tikka Masala was the first dish I tried, because it merely required Garam Masala (available at Uncle Sam's and even Price Chopper) and a few other spices I could easily attain in powder form. I'll someday work my way up to the whole pods and seeds spices. Maybe.

If you have Garam Masala, you can make this dish. My rendition is a little more health conscious... a cup and a half of heavy cream is a little ridiculous and in my opinion detracts from the depth of the dish.

Chicken Tikka Masala
adapted from Pastor Ryan's recipe
Serves 4

3 chicken breasts
salt + pepper
ground coriander
cumin, to taste
½ cups plain yogurt
6 tablespoons butter (I used 4)
1 large onion
4 cloves garlic
1 chunk (approximately 2 inches) fresh ginger (I used 1.5 inches)
3 Tbsp Garam Masala
1 can (28 ounce) crushed or diced tomatoes
1 Jalapeno or Serrano chili, diced (optional)
chopped cilantro
sugar
1-½ cup heavy cream (I used 2/3 cup of light cream)
2 cups basmati rice
1 tsp turmeric

Preheat broiler. Season chicken with some cumin, coriander, salt and pepper. Coat on all sides with plain yogurt (I used Chobani greek) and place on a baking sheet. Broil for 7 minutes on each side. If you don't have yogurt, I've been lazy before and just grilled seasoned chicken in a George Foreman, or even use leftover cooked chicken. While the chicken is cooking, Start making your sauce. Grate the ginger. Melt 2 Tbsp butter in a large skillet, and add the onions and garlic. After they are slightly browned, add the grated ginger (if you don't have fresh, use a teaspoon of powdered, or to taste). Throw in the chili here if you want it spicy, then add the Garam Masala. Next add the can of tomatoes, scraping the bottom of the pan to stir it up. I prefer crushed, but diced works fine too. Add a tablespoon or so of sugar, or to taste. Turn heat to medium low and let simmer.

Meanwhile make your rice. You can make it in a rice cooker or on the stove. Add 2 cups of rice and 4 cups water, the turmeric and the remaining butter. If you're using a rice cooker, turn on and walk away. For stove top, let it boil and then cover and turn to low until done, and try not to open the lid too much for steam to escape.

Return to your sauce and add the cream. When your chicken is done, chop into bite size pieces and stir into the sauce. When your rice is almost done, throw in some frozen peas and let the heat of the steam cook them. Serve your Chicken Tikka Masala over the cooked rice and top with chopped cilantro.

Chicken Pesto Cream Pasta with Artichokes

Pasta is usually my go to meal when I haven’t planned out my dinner or am facing a shortage of groceries. Needless to say I’ve come up with some pretty creative ways to throw together an interesting pasta meal. I use my base creamy pesto sauce, and then I just throw in whatever is in the fridge and I’ve got a delicious and colorful meal.

Chicken Pesto Cream Pasta with Artichokes
Serves 2

2 cups grilled/cooked chicken
1 cup artichokes (canned or frozen)
1/2 cup roasted red pepper strips
2 tbsp prepared pesto
2 chicken boullion cubes or 1 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup cream
1/4 cup white wine
4 oz egg noodles
1/2 onion, diced
2 tbsp olive oil
Fresh parsley for garnish

First chop your onion, prepare all other the ingredients for throwing together. Cook onion in olive oil on in a medium shallow pan for 2 minutes, or until lightly browned. Add white wine to deglaze the pan, then add artichokes and let reduce until half. Meanwhile, cook your pasta in a pot with water and the boullion cubes/chicken broth. This infuses flavor into your pasta. Once the pasta is almost al dente, drain out the liquid and add the reduced onion/artichoke/wine mixture. Add cream, pesto, and red pepper strips to the pot. Stir until the saucy liquid is almost completely absorbed. Garnish with fresh parsley.

Pollo Torta (Grilled Mexican Sandwich)

I was inspired by my recent trip to San Diego, where Mexican food is abundant, cheap, and delicious. It was also the first time I came across the Mexican torta, which is a sandwich characterized by its crusty bread and is garnished by a variety of toppings like avocado, sour cream, jalapeños and lettuce. This is an awesome dish to make for lunch with leftover taco night ingredients. My rendition was Panini style and I used Tuscan Pane bread because that’s what I had.

Pollo Torta (Grilled Mexican Sandwich)
2 slices of bread
½ avocado, sliced (or prepared guacamole if you have it)
a spoonful of refried beans
½ cup cooked chicken (or any other meat if you have it)
¼ cup pico de gallo
¼ cup grated cheddar cheese, or 1 slice
Chili powder
Cumin
Salt + pepper to taste
Lime juice
Sour cream

Preheat your Panini press (or George Foreman). Spread refried beans on one slice of bread. Season your chicken with chili powder, cumin, salt, pepper, and lime juice to your taste, and add that over the bean layer. If your chicken is already seasoned, just add them. Next place the avocado slices, and then pico de gallo (a chunky salsa with little liquid, if you only have runny salsa don’t add it ). Top with cheddar cheese and the bread. Grill for 5 minutes or until done. Top with sour cream and additional salsa.